Heart regurgitation method and apparatus

ABSTRACT

A regurgitation implant may comprise a conduit or straw which may be coupled to a shaft. The shaft may be coupled to at least one anchor portion configured to couple the regurgitation implant to native coronary tissue. At least a portion of the conduit may be configured to be disposed proximate a mitral valve such that the regurgitation implant may interact and/or cooperate with at least a portion of the native mitral valve to induce a controlled amount of regurgitation through the conduit and therefore through the mitral valve. The regurgitation through the conduit and the mitral valve may cause the heart to dilute in a manner that is generally consistent with advanced disease of the heart. The amount of regurgitation may therefore be adjusted depending on the desired condition of the heart.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to diagnosing dysfunctional heart valves, and more particularly pertains to heart regurgitation methods and apparatus.

BACKGROUND

A human heart has four chambers, the left and right atrium and the left and right ventricles. The chambers of the heart alternately expand and contract to pump blood through the vessels of the body. The cycle of the heart includes the simultaneous contraction of the left and right atria, passing blood from the atria to the left and right ventricles. The left and right ventricles then simultaneously contract forcing blood from the heart and through the vessels of the body. In addition to the four chambers, the heart also includes a check valve at the upstream end of each chamber to ensure that blood flows in the correct direction through the body as the heart chambers expand and contract. These valves may become damaged, or otherwise fail to function properly, resulting in their inability to properly close when the downstream chamber contracts. Failure of the valves to properly close may allow blood to flow backward through the valve resulting in decreased blood flow and lower blood pressure.

Mitral regurgitation is a common variety of heart valve dysfunction or insufficiency. Mitral regurgitation occurs when the mitral valve separating the left coronary atrium and the left ventricle fails to properly close. As a result, upon contraction of the left ventricle blood may leak or flow from the left ventricle back into the left atrium, rather than being forced through the aorta. Any disorder that weakens or damages the mitral valve can prevent it from closing properly, thereby causing leakage or regurgitation. Mitral regurgitation is considered to be chronic when the condition persists rather than occurring for only a short period of time.

Regardless of the cause, mitral regurgitation may result in a decrease in blood flow through the body (cardiac output). Correction of mitral regurgitation typically requires surgical intervention. Surgical valve repair or replacement is carried out as an open heart procedure. The repair or replacement surgery may last in the range of about three to five hours, and is carried out with the patient under general anesthesia. The nature of the surgical procedure requires the patient to be placed on a heart-lung machine. Because of the severity/complexity/danger associated with open heart surgical procedures, corrective surgery for mitral regurgitation is typically not recommended until the patient's ejection fraction drops below 60% and/or the left ventricle is larger than 45 mm at rest.

Although mitral regurgitation is present in a many human patients throughout the world, there are far less known instances of the disease in typical animal test species. As such, there is no known reliable sources for naturally occurring congestive heart failure animal models for the purposes of testing efficacy of a given therapy. Most efficacy test models rely on some type of surgical intervention to compromise the heart function of the test specimen prior to application of the test therapy and these interventions introduce many co-morbidities into the experiments as a result of the initial surgery.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features and advantage of the claimed subject matter will be apparent from the following description of embodiments consistent therewith, which description should be considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a regurgitation implant;

FIG. 2 depicts another embodiment of a regurgitation implant including a plurality of conduits;

FIG. 3 depicts yet another embodiment of a regurgitation implant;

FIG. 4 depicts one embodiment of a regurgitation implant implanted within a heart in an open position; and

FIG. 5 depicts the regurgitation implant of FIG. 4 implanted within a heart in a closed position;

DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a perspective view of one embodiment of a regurgitation implant 10 for inducing a controlled regurgitation in a heart valve (for example, a mitral heart valve) is shown. The regurgitation implant 10 may generally include a conduit or straw 12 which may be coupled to a shaft 14. The shaft 14 may be coupled to at least one anchor portion 16 configured to couple, attach, and/or otherwise secure the regurgitation implant 10 to native coronary tissue. In general, at least a portion of the conduit 12 may be configured to be disposed proximate a mitral valve such that the regurgitation implant 10 may interact and/or cooperate with at least a portion of the native mitral valve to induce a controlled amount of regurgitation through the conduit 12 and therefore through the mitral valve. The regurgitation through the conduit 12 and the mitral valve may cause the heart to dilute in a manner that is generally consistent with advanced disease of the heart. The amount of regurgitation may therefore be adjusted depending on the desired condition of the heart.

The conduit or straw 12 may be configured to provide at least one opening or passageway through the heart valve when the heart valve is in the closed position in order to provide the desired amount of regurgitation. According to one embodiment, the conduit or straw 12 may define a passageway 18 having at least a first and a second end 20, 22 configured to extend between a first chamber of the heart, through a heart valve, and into a second chamber of the heart. For example, the passageways 18 may be configured to extend from the left atrium, through the mitral valve, and into the left ventricle. According to another embodiment, the regurgitation implant 10 may include a plurality of passageways 18 as generally shown in FIG. 2. The diameter of the passageways 18 may be selected to provide the desired amount of regurgitation flow through the heart valve when the heart valve is in the closed position.

At least a portion of the conduit or straw 12 may be constructed from a synthetic and/or biological material depending on the application and the patient condition and may include a plurality of layers. For example, the conduit or straw 12 may include an open or closed cell foam substrate (for example, but not limited to, Invalon polyvinyl) and an outer layer of a material that is biologically acceptable. The outer layer may also include a material that is soft and/or deformable (either permanently or resiliently deformable) that may reduce and/or eliminate further scarring and/or damage to the leaflets of the valve. According to one aspect, the substrate of the conduit or straw 12 may be coated with or formed substantially from a silicone urethane composite such as, but not limited to, Elasteon or the like.

According to one embodiment, the conduit or straw 12 may include a stent-like structure. For example, the conduit or straw 12 may include a frame (for example, a helical frame, braided frame, interconnecting row frame, or hatched frame) that may define a generally cylindrical structure configured to provide at least one opening through the heart valve when the heart valve is in the closed position. The conduit or straw 12 may optionally include a substrate such as, but not limited to, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), disposed about at least a portion of the frame of the conduit or straw 12. The substrate may also include a coating or layer (for example, a coating or layer of PTFE) disposed about the inner and/or outer surfaces of the conduit or straw 12. According to another embodiment, the conduit or straw 12 may include a generally tube-like structure. For example, the conduit or straw 12 may include a generally tube-like structure made from PTFE.

At least a portion of the conduit or straw 12 may be collapsible and/or expandable. The conduit or straw 12 may be configured to fit through the lumen of a catheter or the like when collapsed to facilitate delivery of the regurgitation implant 10 to the heart. According to one embodiment, the conduit or straw 12 may include a self-expanding metallic stent (SEMS). The SEMS may include a shape-memory alloy such as, but not limited to, copper-zinc-aluminum, copper-aluminum-nickel, and nickel-titanium (NiTi) alloys, polyurethane, and polyethylene. The shape-memory alloy may include either one-way or two-way shape memory and may be introduced in to the delivery catheter lumen (not shown) having a shape which does not exceed the interior dimensions of the delivery catheter lumen. The conduit or straw 12 may also include a plastic self-expanding stent (such as, but not limited to, Polyflex® made by Boston Scientific). The conduit or straw 12 may also be expandable through use of a balloon or the like. For example, one or more fluids (gases and/or liquids) may be provided to inflate the conduit or straw 12 from the collapsed position to the expanded position.

The conduit or straw 12 may be mounted, coupled, or otherwise secured to at least part of the shaft 14. For example, the conduit or straw 12 may be generally disposed along a portion of the shaft 14 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The shaft 14 may extend beyond the ends 20, 22 of the conduit or straw 12 as generally shown in FIG. 1 and may optionally include bushing or the like 24 disposed about the distal-most end of the shaft 14. The bushing 24 may optionally include a driver configured to engage with a clamping mechanism as generally described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/940,694, which is fully incorporated herein by reference. According to another embodiment, the shaft 14 may terminate at or before the distal-most end of the conduit or straw 12 as generally shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The conduit or straw 12 may be coupled to at least a portion of the shaft 14 by way of an adhesive or cement (such as, but not limited to, a biologically acceptable adhesive or cement), bonding/molding (such as, but not limited to, overmolding and the like), or welding (such as, but not limited to, ultrasonic welding or the like). The conduit or straw 12 may also be coupled to at least a portion of the shaft 14 using a fastening mechanism. The fastening mechanism may substantially fix the position of one or more of the conduit or straw 12 with respect to the regurgitation implant 10 (and specifically with respect to the shaft 14). According to another aspect, the fastening mechanism may allow one or more of the conduits or straws 12 to move relative to the shaft 14. For example, the fastening mechanism may allow the one or more of the conduits or straws 12 to move generally along the longitudinal axis and/or radially with respect to the shaft 14.

Turning now to FIG. 4, one embodiment of a heart 60 is shown in a condition in which the pressure of blood within the left atrium 62 is at equal to, or higher than, the pressure of blood within the left ventricle 64, e.g., during contraction of the left atrium 62. As shown, when the pressure of blood within the left atrium 62 is greater than or equal to the pressure of blood within the left ventricle 64, blood may flow from the left atrium 62 into the left ventricle 64. In the open position, the pressure differential causes a flow of blood from the left atrium 62 to the left ventricle 64. Additionally, the flow of blood from left atrium 62 to the left ventricle 64 may cause the mitral valve 61 to flare and/or expand outwardly away from the mitral valve implant 10. The regurgitation implant 10 may provide sufficient clearance between the mitral valve 61 and the conduit or spacer 12 to permit adequate blood flow from the left atrium 62 to the left ventricle 64. Some of the blood may also flow through the regurgitation implant 10 as generally indicated by the arrows.

As the left ventricle 64 contracts, the pressure of blood in the left ventricle 64 may increase such that the blood pressure in the left ventricle 64 is greater than the blood pressure in the left atrium 62. Additionally, as the pressure of the blood in the left ventricle 64 initially increases above the pressure of the blood in the left atrium 62, blood may begin to flow towards and/or back into the left atrium 62.

In the closed position as shown in FIG. 5, at least a portion of the conduit or straw 12 may interact with, engage, and/or be positioned adjacent to at least a portion of the mitral valve 61. For example, at least a portion of at least one cusp 63 of the mitral valve 61 may contact at least a portion of the conduit or straw 12. Engagement between the conduit or straw 12 and the mitral valve 61 may generally restrict the flow of blood from the left ventricle 64 back into the left atrium 62. In addition to restricting the flow of blood from the left ventricle 64 to the left atrium 62, the regurgitation implant 10 may induce a controlled amount of regurgitation through the conduit or straw 12 and therefore through the mitral valve 61 as generally indicated by the arrows. The inducement of regurgitation through the mitral valve 61 may cause the heart 60 to dilate in a manner that is generally consistent with heart disease.

The regurgitation implant 10 may be inserted in the heart 60 percutaneously (for example, by way of a catheter-based delivery system as generally described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/258,828, entitled “Heart Valve Implant” filed on Oct. 26, 2005, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/748,147, entitled “Safety for Mitral Valve Plug” filed on May 14, 2007, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/748,138, entitled “Solid Construct Mitral Spacer” filed on May 14, 2007, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/748,121, entitled “Balloon Mitral Spacer” filed on May 14, 2007, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference. The use of the catheter-based delivery system may spare the recipient (for example, an animal) from the collateral damage that may be caused by surgical or drug induced techniques. The regurgitation implant 10, in and of itself, may not alter the anatomy of the valve, but may serve to create a heart output insufficiency that may cause the heart to naturally remodel in a manner the same as or similar to a heart (such as a human heart) suffering from valvular regurgitation.

The regurgitation implant 10 herein has been disclosed above in the context of a mitral valve implant. An regurgitation implant 10 consistent with the present disclosure may also suitably be employed in other applications, e.g., as an implant associated with one of the other valves of the heart, etc. The present disclosure should not, therefore, be construed as being limited to use for reducing and/or preventing regurgitation of the mitral valve.

According to one aspect, the present disclosure features an implant comprising a shaft, at least one anchor coupled to a first end region of the shaft, and at least one conduit coupled to the shaft. The conduit is configured to interact with at least a portion of at least one cusp of a heart valve to induce a controlled amount of regurgitation through the heart valve in a closed position.

According to another aspect, the present disclosure features a regurgitation implant comprising a shaft, at least one anchor coupled to an end region of the shaft, and at least one conduit coupled to the shaft configured to interact with at least a portion of at least one cusp of a heart valve to at least partially restrict a flow of blood through the heart valve in a closed position. The conduit defines at least one passageway configured to extend through the heart valve and induce a controlled amount of regurgitation through the heart valve in the closed position.

According to yet another aspect, the present disclosure features a method of inducing regurgitation. The method comprises providing a regurgitation implant including at least one anchor portion and conduit coupled to a shaft. The implant is percutaneously inserted into a heart and secured within the heart such that the conduit interacts with at least a portion of at least one cusp of a heart valve to define at least one passageway through the heart valve configured to induce a controlled amount of regurgitation through the heart valve in a closed position.

As mentioned above, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to a system or method which must satisfy one or more of any stated or implied object or feature of the present disclosure and should not be limited to the preferred, exemplary, or primary embodiment(s) described herein. The foregoing description of a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present disclosure to the precise form disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiment was chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the present disclosure and its practical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the present disclosure in various embodiments and with various modifications as is suited to the particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the present disclosure as determined by the claims when interpreted in accordance with breadth to which they are fairly, legally and equitably entitled. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An implant comprising: a shaft; at least one anchor coupled to a first end region of said shaft; and at least one conduit coupled to said shaft and configured to engage against at least a portion of a heart valve between a first and a second heart chamber when said implant is extended through said heart valve, wherein said at least one conduit includes a first and a second open end configured to be disposed within said first and said second heart chambers, respectively such that a controlled amount of regurgitation flows into said first open end, through said heart valve, and out said second open end when said heart valve is in a closed position.
 2. The implant of claim 1, wherein said at least one conduit comprises a stent.
 3. The implant of claim 1, wherein said at least one conduit comprises a frame.
 4. The implant of claim 3, wherein at least a portion of said frame comprises a layer of polytetrafluoroethylene.
 5. The implant of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of said conduit is expandable.
 6. The implant of claim 5, wherein said expandable portion comprises an inflatable bladder.
 7. The implant of claim 5, wherein said expandable portion comprises a shape memory material configured to recoverably deform.
 8. The implant of claim 1 comprising a plurality of conduits defining a plurality of passageways configured to induce regurgitation through said heart valve in said closed position.
 9. The implant of claim 1, wherein a second end region of said shaft generally opposite from said first end region extends beyond a distal-most end region of said conduit.
 10. The implant of claim 9, wherein said second end region of said shaft comprises a driver configured to engage a clamping mechanism of a delivery system.
 11. The implant of claim 1, wherein a portion of said conduit extends beyond a second end region of said shaft generally opposite from said first end region.
 12. The implant of claim 1, wherein said anchor portion include at least one helical screw.
 13. A regurgitation implant comprising: a shaft; at least one anchor coupled to an end region of said shaft; and at least one conduit coupled to said shaft configured to engage against at least a portion of at least one cusp of a heart valve when said device is extended through said heart valve, so as to at least partially restrict a flow of blood through said heart valve when said heart valve is in a closed position, wherein said at least one conduit defines at least one passageway configured to extend through said heart valve and including a first open end configured to be disposed within a first heart chamber and a second open end configured to be disposed within a second heart chamber such that a controlled amount of regurgitation flows into said first open end, through said heart valve, and out said second open end when said heart valve is in said closed position.
 14. The regurgitation implant of claim 13, wherein at least a portion of said conduit is expandable.
 15. The regurgitation implant of claim 14, wherein said expandable portion comprises an inflatable bladder.
 16. The regurgitation implant of claim 14, wherein said expandable portion comprises a shape memory material configured to recoverably deform.
 17. A method according to claim 14, wherein percutaneously inserting said at least partially collapsed regurgitation implant comprises inserting said regurgitation implant into a lumen of a catheter and delivering said regurgitation implant to said left ventricle via said catheter.
 18. A method of inducing regurgitation comprising: providing a regurgitation implant comprising at least one anchor portion and conduit coupled to a shaft; percutaneously inserting said regurgitation implant into a heart; and securing said regurgitation implant within said heart such that said at least one conduit extends through a heart valve between two heart chambers and engages against at least a portion of at least one cusp of said heart valve to define at least one passageway through said heart valve configured to induce a controlled amount of regurgitation through said heart valve in a closed position.
 19. The method of claim 18 further comprising: at least partially collapsing said regurgitation implant; percutaneously delivering said at least partially collapsed regurgitation implant proximate said heart; and expanding said at least partially collapsed regurgitation implant. 